I know what you are saying, that the original post was for people selling only. No one is criticizing Linda. I have seen Linda post answers to many many questions with lots of great info. But some of the comments after hers were sort of disconcerting. Comments like our machine is the best, why should we answer questions about their machines, we should send them away, wish everyone could be as happy as we are, able to create. These comments bothered me. It is like if you do not have an APQS you are not doing it right. Well, I would imagine that every company thinks their machine is the best, and every owner of said machine probably does, too. I am a new quilter. I have a disability and limited in funds. I needed a sit down machine. I found a great deal on a Tiara and went for it. I think it is great. I don't want to come here and feel like I have an inferior machine and that I just can't create or do things right because I have a different machine. I have no doubt that APQS machines are great, but I would not have even known about them if not for this forum.

Zora, it works the other way around, too. If people on the APQS forum "send people away," it looks bad for APQS. They would want everyone to respect their brand, as well as welcome others who may not know much about their brand yet. If you feel unwelcome, it does not make you want to run out and buy a machine from APQS, even tho you realize it is not the company posting. You would not even pursue the brand. I would not criticize an APQS machine on this forum, but I don't think it is beneficial in any way to make people who have a different brand feel like they are "not part of the club," because they own a different machine. Not everyone can run out and spend thousands of dollars on a longarm. They do, after all, have a link to this forum on their site, and contest entry page, which is probably what led me here. I think they welcome everyone here no matter what brand they own, ask about, or whatever.
This part of the forum is labeled, "Chat about anything." That means anything, unless it is cursing or directly being rude to someone else. If they did not want people to chat about anything, including mentioning other machines, they probably would not have included that part of the forum.

Part of advertising is getting your name out there and hosting forums. Even tho I do not own an APQS at this time, I know much more about them now since belonging to this forum, and I have learned that they are a great company with a great product. Isn't that what APQS would want? I get emails daily, and postings on my facebook page from multiple companies. They don't worry about whether I want to hear from them day after day after day. They just want to keep reminding me of their product. Hosting a forum is one way for a company to keep their name and product in front of your face. If they want people with other brands to stay away, they can put it in their rules. They could ban posts of sales of other brands. I would think they would want to attract quilters here for any reason. The quilter may join and learn about their product. Isn't that one reason they have a great contest going on, to attract people to their site, to learn about their product? I sent for info. on a machine after entering the contest.
I will certainly hesitate to post here now after reading these posts. I belonged to another forum on embroidery machines and everyone suddenly got snobby because I did not own their brand. That was the end for me. Only want to exchange info. and learn, and help, not worry about which brand I own, want to sell, or want to buy. I don't think that "sending people away" benefits APQS in any way. Don't some of you do part of your quilting on another machine, a DSM? Perhaps your binding? Then perhaps you should not ask binding questions because you are not doing it on an APQS machine. Just my opinion.

Oh boy, I have been posting questions, and I have a Tiara, (not for sale) and now I feel a bit uncomfortable. I bought a Tiara because I found one used that I could afford and in a state I could drive to and get it. That does not mean I do not appreciate the quality of an APQS. I would definitely consider one some day if I was ever looking for a new machine, because of all the great things I have learned here. That benefits APQS. I thought this forum was for anyone to learn and share about quilting. I did not even think about the brand issue. It never occurred to me that the brand sponsoring the forum, or people owning a different brand than me, would care about this at all. I kind of thought forums were just for sharing info, not promoting a certain brand. I have seen several posts by people with the same machine as me and thought nothing of it. Don't have a problem with people selling either. I never thought about it in that light. I wonder what APQS has to say about this? They could ban non APQS sales if they wanted to.

OMG, that is absolutely beautiful! I wish I had room in my little home for things like that. What a find and a treasure that is! I got a little treasure 2 days ago; my daughter in law went to a yard sale and someone sold her her entire stamping collection of rubber and acrylic stamps for 10 bucks. Since I like to make cards, she snatched it up for me. Three bags of stamps! Woohoo!

Oh wow, that will be a beautiful room for Freddie with all that natural light! And right in the center of the household so you can keep an eye on things! Perfect! Congratulations, that is so wonderful!

Wow, I hope no one gets hurt and that they can stop the fire before it consumes anyone's house. I hate to see our beautiful forests burn, it takes so long for them to recover! And the poor wildlife has to flee and hopefully get out! Be safe!

Shirley, that sounds like a great idea, giving your extra things to people who need them. The few garage sales I have had have not been worth the work. I hardly made any money. You will feel so good when it is all gone! I was really going at it, but am still in too much pain to do anything. I am sooo frustrated.

It is easier for me to SID on my domestic machine because I can do straighter lines with the feed dogs. Although it is difficult to do with a large quilt. As a newbie, I have not resolved this issue. I am not too good yet with a ruler, even doing straight lines. Also, when you SID on a pieced quilt, do you do EVERY ditch?

Well, my purging and organizing and sewing has been completely derailed again. My neck is really hurting. Everything goes on hold and I just sit here and watch tv or try to do handwork. This is soooo frustrating! Not sure what set it off this time, I never am. I had not done anything heavy; my husband moves things for me. Have to wait it out now. My son's step daughter is graduating this Friday and I will not be able to go and sit thru a church ceremony and reception afterward. I will have to miss this one.

I saw a video where a woman, cutting triangles on the GO, put a page from a catalog on top of the fabric, and she said it helped with the accuracy. She used a thin piece of catalog paper, making sure the ink was not "smeary," and took out the staples. She had designed the die, and she said it helped to keep the fabric from shifting. I tried this and was not sure if it helped, but I may experiment a bit with it. And you can get a lot of use out of your mats by alternating them. Example: if you have cut a lot of rag blocks, and that square area is worn out, use the center of the square, where the mat is still good, to cut out some small applique pieces.

Oh boy, good luck Linda. This is the perfect opportunity for you to scale down, but it is a lot of work!! At least you can feel motivated by getting a new house.
I would like to remind everybody not to put papers into the trash with personal info on them. Shred or burn them. Can't be too careful these days. Luckily for me, my hubby got a new fire pit, and I have got the fuel for him!
Have any of you seen "Flylady?" She has a system for dejunking your home and keeping it up on a regular basis.

I have had a GO for some years now and I really love it. I don't quilt professionally, so the GO is right for me. I got it on sale for $200 and have never seen it that cheap again. I buy the dies when they go on sale. I use a Sizzix for paper crafting, and have had that for quite a long time. So I do like it also. But the GO is so much wider and you can use wider dies. I have never regretted my decision. If I made a ton of quilts, I think I would have bought the Studio. Some people are now using the Brother Scan n Cut, but that seems like too much work to cut out each piece of fabric. Rotary cutting hurts my neck too much so the GO is very helpful in keeping my quilting. I am using it now to cut some baby clothes into squares, after stabilizing them. It is doing a perfect job. The strip cutters are great, too. I have quite a collection of dies now. BTW, Ebony Love just came out with a book that talks about the different die cutters, their pros and cons, and how to use each one to the fullest. I got it on Amazon and think it was worth the money. It is called, "The Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips." You may want to check it out because it sounds like just the book you need! Also, there are charts on the Accuquilt site that tell you which dies go together for which blocks, and there are videos, too.

My cat was playing with something the other day, in the living room. It turned out to be a chipmunk! We have a little cat door in a basement window that goes out to a little, completely enclosed, "catio." My cats love it!! I guess it got in that way. It was playing dead on the floor. My husband picked it up with gloves and put it outside and it ran off; seemed to be okay. Always something new around here!
Such darling puppies you have!

Rita, I know it is a bummer. Tons of paper coming into the house on a regular basis, as well as grandkids' artwork. I recycled tons of stuff from our file drawers and some kitchen drawers, lots of old papers and coupons. I am going to cut a few coupons, but I am going to keep it simpler. It is just too much work. It is nice to have space in our files, instead of them being crammed full. My office is also my paper crafting room so I have lots of office and crafting supplies, inks, pens, die cutting machine, etc. I revamped our kitchen binder, it has imp. numbers, doctors, lists, birthday dates, pet vaccine dates, anything I need to access quickly. I also ordered some new rugs and towels on Amazon. I need to spruce up the place a bit! Also asked hubby to paint a few things for me; I cannot do much painting; too hard and painful for me. My sewing room is pretty messy, but that will be on the agenda perhaps next week. Whew!!!!! I am pooped!

So sorry about losing you cats! I recently had to put my cat Zoey down, and it was sooo hard. I still feel so sad when I see pictures of her. I really miss her. I have 5 more cats and a dog, tho, and 3 guinea pigs.
Today I focused on paper. I went thru lots of papers on my desk and in the kitchen, and recycled so much, it felt great. Now I have to clean off my desk and go thru my files.

Okay, that is what I get for looking at the organizing blogs my daughter told me about! (She is an organizing fiend!!) Now I am putting things away, boxing up things for goodwill, cleaning, washing shower curtains, trashing stuff, going thru paperwork!! It feels good, but I had better pace myself! Going to get some new throw rugs and towels; everything around here is worn out and tired looking! My husband is clutching the debit card in fear! LOL No sewing today probably!